LOCAL COLLEGES: CSUSM off to strong start in women's volleyball

They have players from all over Southern California and two from
Oregon. Most are freshmen. Most were under-recruited and
overlooked.

Still, just past the halfway point in its season, the Cal State
San Marcos women's volleyball team is 15-5 and ranked No. 17 in the
NAIA.

And the Cougars, with no gym on campus, have played just one
home match -- and that was at Escondido High.

"Really, what's going on with this team is incredible," said
Cougars athletic director Tom Seitz.

Sarah Gustin, who played at Michigan State and was an assistant
coach at Indiana, was named the university's first women's
volleyball coach. She left to take a job as head coach and senior
women's administrator at Point Loma Nazarene.

Dennis Palpallatoc, a respected club coach, replaced Gustin, but
soon found coaching a college team and maintaining a top-flight
club program was too big a load.

He was replaced by Andrea Leonard, who played at Northern
Michigan and was the head coach for five years at Boston College
before taking a position as an assistant at San Diego State.

"Nothing against the other people we hired because they were
both great choices," Seitz said. "But when I saw Andrea's resume, I
asked her, 'Why didn't you apply for this the first two times it
was open?' "

The Cougars, who have won six straight matches, have 10
freshmen, a sophomore and five juniors on the roster.

Leonard said one of her biggest decisions was making junior
college transfer Nichole May the team's captain.

"It was hard at first because I didn't know what to expect,"
said May, a libero from Irvine Valley College. "I didn't know what
kind of volleyball we'd play.

"A lot of schools didn't think I could play, so when I was named
captain, it was a huge honor.

"I love being a leader -- on and off the court. I'm a little
older, a little more mature, kind of a big sister to a lot of these
girls, so I get about a million texts a day."

Taylor DeGraaf, a freshman from Arcadia High, leads the team
with 256 kills.

Like May, DeGraaf is a player who wasn't a big recruit.

"I committed to the last coach, and was kind of iffy about
coming here being that it was a first-year program," DeGraaf
said.

"Honestly, in high school, I didn't even know if I'd play in
college.

"I never expected this. It has been amazing so far."

The Cougars played their first home match Sept. 13 and blew out
San Diego Christian before a large and enthusiastic crowd of about
1,300.

"I loved it," DeGraaf said. "It was very loud, really fun."

The Cougars have four home matches left, the next at 7 p.m. Oct.
6 against No. 3 Concordia.

"Getting ranked this year is a very big deal," Leonard said.
"The athletic department is very much behind its teams.